No_Brakes23 said:
Ignorant perhaps, but not dumb or hormone driven. Then again, I was almost 23 when I enlisted, (Someting I would NOT reccomend.)
If we (charitably) assume that a person starts thinking and accumulating wisdom/understanding, at around 13, than 23 is DOUBLE the mental age of 18 – 10 years of thinking as compared to 5. And that assuming that the rate at which one accumulates wisdom is the same at 14 as it is at 22.
In my squad, 23 was “old man” – a person of incomprehensible life experience.
MilkyBee said:
Kind of puts the lie to THIS little nugget, doesn't it?
Err. He knew what he was doing at 35 while he did not necessarily at 18. Even if he was doing the same thing. Doesn’t put anything to lie. Just an amusing anecdote.
Plenty of people regretted at 35 having served at 18, others regretted not having served. If you would put more stock in a decision/sentiment of 18-year old as compared to a person twice that age, you are not of much opinion about acquired wisdom….
With that blanket statement logic we should not allow until the age of brain formation (whatever that is)-
any legal prosecution of them for law violations as they have "unformed brains" and can't tell right from wrong
any of them to hold any position of trust involving the public policy
allow them to touch anything dangerous or hunt etc.
Err… They are not allowed to drink, nor to smoke in some municipalities until they are 21, nor eligible to be elected to some offices until they 25 or even 35 years old.
Deavis said:
Speak for yourself, not everyone else. You might have been immature and irrational at 18 but not all of us were. I knew I wanted to be an engineer when I was 15, made the choice to focus on that, went to college on a scholarship, got two degrees, and now enjoy my career immensely.
Not everyone else, but certainly most of us.
I look back I can't fault my choice at 15 because I made the best decision based on the information I had at the time.
Ahh.. On the information you had at the time. Surely you do not believe that a human is incapable of acquiring information after that age or after 18.
There is no reason that good decisions cannot be made at 18. Sure, good parental input helps, but heaven forbid someone be a real parent these days..
By your logic, why not at 15? Or 12? Let’s allow the 12-year olds sign binding contracts with the recruiters, enough coddling them.
With all due respect to your accomplished career, if you have not noticed that human males undergo serious amount of maturation from 18 to 25-30, then you are freaking ignorant of what
normal humans are. Better stick to your engines then.
That's a bit of a stretch. No, it's more than a stretch, it's silly. You are constructing arguments out of thin air.
Five seconds on Google (or in any library) will show extensive listings of state NG units serving in WWI and WWII. Try typing in National Guard WWII and hitting Enter.
Actually, employing the NG beyond this nation’s borders is clearly unconstitutional.
According to Article I, Section 8, Clause 15, Congress has three constitutional grounds for calling up the militia – 'to execute the laws of the Union, suppress insurrection and repel invasions.'.
It is simply beyond my comprehension that some folks cannot understand what the words 'armed services' mean.
One thinks one does until he hits the statistics on pregnancies and the ratio of single mothers. Then one gets really confused….
Where is the libertarian treatise with SPECIFIC real world policies that can be implemented?
The problems that American empire experiences would not have not arisen for a (more) libertarian American republic in the first place. Specific problem of japanese in 1941 were not necessarily Americans but their own government. Inducing them to attack America earlier and harder was hardly the best advice for them.
Where is your alternative solution to dealing with Saddam?
Keep supporting him. Buy his oil, sell him stuff, watch him fight muslim fundamentalists, maintain peace and order, westernize and secularize Iraq even more.
Oh, yes – let him have that backward feudal theocracy of Kuwait.
miko